A respected bishop was assaulted just weeks before his death by a carer who forced him to have cold showers and slapped his bottom, a court heard.

The Rt Rev John Satterthwaite was suffering from dementia when he was 'subjected to unnecessary humiliation and degradation' by carer Kate Rogowski.

The former Bishop of Gibraltar, known around the world for his past roles in the Anglican church, died aged 88 just weeks after the assault.

Rogowski, 25, was found guilty of assaulting the Reverend after a trial at Preston Magistrates Court and was given an eight-week jail term.

The Rt Rev John Satterthwaite died a month after his treatment at the hands of Kate Rogowski came to light

The vulnerable clergyman did not live to see justice done and died in Chorley Hospital in May last year - though his death is not related to the assault.

The court heard he was a resident at The Lodge care home within the Buckshaw Village Retirement complex, near Chorley, Lancashire.

Magistrates said Rogowski, of Buckshaw Village, 'acted in direct contravention of his care plan, causing him unnecessary humiliation and degradation by cold showering him and slapping his bottom' and had shown no remorse.

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Rt Rev Satterthwaite was Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe from 1980 to 1993 and had held previous roles as Bishop of Fulham and General Secretary of the Church of England's Council for Foreign Relations.

He is considered to have played a major role in strengthening his church's relations with other denominations and in establishing an Anglican presence on the continent. He retired in 1993 and lived in Carlisle before moving to the rest home.

The former Bishop of Gibraltar was suffering from dementia and living the Lodge care home within the Buckshaw Village Retirement complex, near Chorley, Lancashire at the time of the assault

DC Carl Matthews, who investigated the case, said: 'This victim was a vulnerable member of the community who has been subjected to ill treatment at the hands of one of the people who were entrusted to care for them.

'Rogowski showed total contempt for his well-being, displaying shameful behaviour that should never be tolerated. Thankfully this behaviour is not a true reflection of the majority of the care staff.'

The Diocese of Carlisle and the Diocese of Blackburn have issued a joint statement saying: 'We are really shocked to discover this sad end to the very distinguished life of Bishop John.

'He was a tremendous character with a huge fund of interesting stories about his time as Bishop of Europe.

'Bishop John was much loved by the very many people who knew him. All people deserve respect, but especially the most vulnerable in our society. We pray for all those who work for older people.'

A spokesman for HICA, which manages The Lodge, said: 'We are gravely saddened for the resident that this situation occurred and we appreciate how distressing this is for the person and their family members and the team currently working at the home.

'At HICA we have a zero tolerance approach to any forms of abuse and our safeguarding policy and training ensures that any issues such as these are reported immediately and action taken.

'As a not-for-profit organisation our only objective is to provide, safe, caring, responsive, effective and well-led care services and we are proud to be working with both safeguarding departments and the police across all areas of our operation to ensure that poor practice such as this is stamped out in the care sector.'